Hunting the Fairy Tale

Chapter 82: Pigs-in-a-Blanket

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Watching Molly enjoy the sausage rolls I made, I can feel myself finally relaxing for real, a smile spreading across my face, causing me to grin like an idiot. She's the only person I know who actually makes me feel kinda hot when she's eating the food I've made. She's not eating it; she's making out with it.

"Maybe you and that plate should get a room," I tell her, and she glares at me, looking a little embarrassed.

"Shut up. You should be flattered by my lack of decorum," she assures me with a grin. "These are just so good, Tan."

"Glad you like it," I smile, and I mean it. Seeing her enjoy the things I make has become my favourite new hobby.

"Hmm," she says, dropping the roll she's eating back on her plate and, sitting up straighter, she levels her blue eyes on my face in that direct way she has that always hits me in the solar plexus. Whenever Molly looks at me, it feels as if she sees me... and suddenly, I sort of want to hide. I don't do shy!!! "You said you wanted to talk to me about an idea you have?"

That's right! So many things happened today I forgot about that, and I've become a bit mesmerized watching Molly eat while I pet the fat little shrimp that crawled into my lap. Cute little beast, but he's a noisy sleeper.

"Yeah," I say, feeling uncertain about all of it now. "Actually, Prissy gave me the idea. Uhm..."

"What?" she prompts when I fall silent, playing with Alien's ears, not really sure I want to tell her anymore. "Just spit it out already," Molly laughs and pics up the roll to take another bite.

So impatient!

"Lunchboxes," I say, using my free hand to pick at one of the rolls on my plate. "She said I should buy some of those bio-degradable take-out boxes and use them to sell my healthy food to office workers... and stuff..." I trail off when Molly just blinks at me, not responding at all. The idea doesn't sound as great to me now as when Willow was excited about it.

I need Willow to come explain it to Molly... and me...

Molly puts the roll down again and carefully pats the flakes from her hands onto her plate. I watch her, feeling uncomfortable and a little stupid now.

"You know," she finally says, giving me a bright smile, and I immediately feel better. It's like the sun just rose in my heart... Her smile is turning me into a corny greeting card writer!

What the hell?!

I don't like this see-saw I'm riding when I'm with the girl. How does she have so much influence on my mood? She has way too much power over me. I'm not generally an emotional guy; I can reign it in pretty well, but when Molly is around, I go through an entire spectrum of feelings and shit. It's freaky. I hate it... and I like it...

"Mum and I were just talking about it... when was it?" She scrunches her face up in the cute, animated way I'm starting to get addicted to, then shrugs. "Dunno... sometime this week between the slutty quiches and the well-able soup..."

"The what?!" I chuckle, but apparently, she is not going to explain it to me.

"Mum said that you should make energy-building food, like that soup you gave her and sell it to the hospital staff. She shared her soup with some of her friends there and it made a huge difference to how well they coped with their hectic shifts."

"Really?" I know the soup gives a little boost, especially when you're running around all day, but I'm surprised and happy to hear that it made such a huge difference.

"Yes! Totally! While the soup lasted, Mum was not coming home ravenously hungry and dead tired anymore... she was just a little more hungry than the average person and semi-comatose tired," Molly clarifies, making me laugh.